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Thanksgiving, 2016

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Zune–What a machine

I was looking to enhance my video and mp3 world, and started researching new players. I already had a Sansa Clip, for listening to music and audio books in my car, but I wanted something I could take into work with me, so I needed at least another mp3 player.

The Candle Project

Jordan and I experimented with making custom candles–it’s so easy, even a PaPa can do it. I found the plan on the internet–buy a large candle, wrap it with decorative ribbons (or write your own message on one), and dip it into melted paraffin. Joila–a custom candle. It worked great, and now we each have a one of a kind candle.

Triplet’s 2nd birthday

We helped Tristan, Zayne, and Ethan celebrate their 2nd birthday a couple of weeks ago. Since they can now walk , they are a handful to keep up with. And my, they seem to like my PC way too much.

Wicked–the play

I normally don’t care for musicals, but we took a chance on this one, because it’s so well known. And what a surprise and treat it was. The actors were superb, and Glinda was hysterical. What wonderful singing–and the comedy lines had us in stitches. Some of the great scenes were: The wizard (as a robot head) The Wicked Witch towering over the crowd at…

Cancun, 2006

Saturday, 8/12.

Got up at 3 am, flew out of RIC at 7:10, $490, Northwest.

Arrived 2 pm, via Memphis. We checked our bags this trip because of the orange alert on liquids in carry on’s. We dropped our bags off at that office and took the same van for the airport back up to the main drag, then bus to town. Then took taxi, on driver’s recommendation to Labna. Had Yucutan Tour–steak, beans, pico deguyo, guacamole, $125 pesos. Exchange rate at airport was $10.70, on street $10.60. Great place, atmosphere. Mariachis sang Cucuroo, Paloma, Grenada, Meso May, tipped $100 pesos.

Orestes, A Tragic Romp

This was a play at the Folger Theater, in Washington, DC, and one of the best I’ve ever seen.  it’s a Shakespearean type play (actually written by Euripides over 2,000 years ago). When the actors use the typical language of the era, it’s just too hard to understand.

But this play had been updated, so the actors used “normal” language, and even wore conventional clothes. It was kind of shocking to see Mentes, a sea captain, come onto the stage directly off his ship and appear in a suit and tie. But then again, the play was full of surprises.

Jordan could replace Leno

Here are a couple of recent examples–I think she was about 10 years old: We’re riding down the road and Jordan asks me if I get the Disney Station on my radio. Me: No. Jordan: What? This car sucks. We’re walking the dog around the high school. I stop for the dog to “go.” Jordan: Come on, old man.

Reading by cheating–Book TV

Every weekend, CSPAN2 turns into Book TV–a channel dedicated to books. Most of the programs are presentations by the author of a book they’ve recently written. It’s a wonderful way to get a quick synopsis of a book without having to read the whole thing. That talks are usually recorded from a book signing event, a university speech, etc. Here’s an example, from Oct. 11,…

Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett

This is a delicious book–it has it all: intrigue, deception, treachery, violence, wars, and oh yes, a little sex. It takes place in England in the 1600’s, but covers several generations of characters. It’s totally unlike Ken’s usual spy novels, but don’t worry, this is not a failed experiment that he took in trying to cover a different genre. He excels at it, and I…